Victor Adaha|9 July 2017
It has become pertinent and imperative we re-open the discussion. The very essence of government is to make life easy for her citizenry at all levels, but you would agree with me that in recent times the reverse has been the case, especially with staff of the local Government in different states.
Local Government staff have been seen to be the most affected of all, which range from as high as a year while to others, numbers of months without pay. In Edo state, some few years ago staff (LG) were owed for about a year without pay (12 calendar months), in Cross River state it is not any different as teachers under the Local Government have been most affected, they keep crying out but nobody to hear them.
Far north has also proven to take no exemption as Adamawa State is currently dragging staff especially the primary school teachers salaries for four months still counting even though bail out funds have been disbursed and most of them even went out to borrow money to the tune of billions of naira. The west also is cut up in this madness and inhuman act as Osun State is currently leading the model in no payments of staff salaries, with the most hit being the LG staff, not forgetting the skirmishes of similar issues in Ekiti, Imo and the list goes on and on.
From the careful investigative journalism carried out, it was found that the reason why the most hit and affected remains the LG is because the state governors use the allocations to first and foremost address their central pressing need which is their statutory function and there after if there exist remnants the LG could then share of it. This un-pragmatic and un-sustainable cruel method of governance must be discontinued if really we as a nation want any meaningful development and lasting peace.
The current trend of event has made life so unbearable for millions of Nigerians and as a result has further depened dependency level in recent times, it has made especially people in the affected cadre feel left out, abandoned, dejected, and sub-dued. This has made hate speeches grow and has made them so unsuspecting to the diatribes and songs of division which is mainly coming from aggrieved people who sometimes don't know how else to expunge their frustration.
The LG remains the closest government to the people and ordinary man, ideally they should get most of the nation's sovereign wealth, they should be seen as an integral aspect and arm of the executive. But all this are but a mirage. Only exist in the feign imaginations of a few of us who are true democrats and progressives.
Local Government autonomy would create more wealth distribution, it would also bring about responsible governance just as people crave for state creation as a means of reaching out to a larger percentage of the citizenry, I also agitate for this autonomy. Which would be different from this corrupt practices we are currently mandated to, of so much money at the top for them to siphon to their Swiss account and use for their personal and callous desires. With the new system of sovereign wealth distribution (LG autonomy) there would be more money at the lower arm of the executive than the federal and state if put together. I preach this as the next best thing that can happen to our country.
It has been deliberated upon at different quarters and debated on by legislators even entertained as an idea by the state and federal government but still suffers a silent cancerous illness, which is mastermind to lead to its eventual death if we don't rise to the occasion.
I must state here that, this arm being starved is a deliberate attempt to also indirectly dissuade young persons from early start and involvement in governance, as it is most likely that most of them who want to venture into politics would take that level as a start up point. And as a result of fear of possible failure and redundancy some 'chicken' out of politics while the other group go for other stringent and highly competitive and expensive to run offices. Just to mention.
This piece is not a diatribe to any body, institutions, group or persons, but rather it is just my apolitical view point.
Victor Adaha
Is a socio-political analyst, columnist and a comrade.
